


strange bedfellows

by laufire



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Asexual Character, Canon-Typical Violence, Developing Relationship, Downworlder Politics, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Multiple, Post-Season/Series 02, References to Addiction
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-01
Updated: 2018-01-01
Packaged: 2019-02-26 05:54:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13229421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laufire/pseuds/laufire
Summary: Valentine was defeated, but that didn't mean peace among the Shadow world was going to be easy.





	strange bedfellows

**Author's Note:**

> This story has been building up inside my head since even before the season ended, when it was going to be a silly short(ish) fic about my OT3. Then the Seelie's plot towards the last episodes happened and it grew a plot I've tried to -futilely-  
> fight against. So this is the result.  
> Fair warning: this work includes Camille/Magnus and Alec/Victor as background pairings (among others, but I'm aware this are the controversial ones).  
> Lastly, there are a few details I've grabbed here and there from book canon. Nothing really major, since I haven't read them, but one of them may constitute a spoiler regarding Meliorn's storyline.  
> 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's too little Meliorn in the chapter because I needed to establish a few things before delving into the plot, but I promise that will be remedied soon.

"I was so close to my fourth year. That's what I keep coming back to again and again. And despite all those years clean, it was  _so easy_  to slip back into it. It's what I know. So I came back to it. I felt an almost sort of... relief, when I gave in. As if, I did it now. Relapsing sometimes felt inevitable, and now it's done. It's stupid, because it's not like things are going to be any easier from now on, aren’t they? But I always knew I wouldn’t be able to keep myself clean forever."

Those words had stuck with Isabelle for what was left of the day. She had gone to another AA meeting that afternoon, and while she usually left them feeling better, thinking it had helped at least a little bit, the last one had been a shock to her very core. One of the people that talked that day, a man that looked older than he probably was and thinner than anyone should be, had told the history of his personal and recent failure to the rest of room, and it had been too much for her. She'd had to force herself to stay put, even if every fiber of her being pleaded for a way out. 

After thinking about it on the way home, she had realized that the problem wasn't that she related to his story, but that it had made her think about the future. She hadn't been clean for a month, and four years sounded like an unattainable dream. She didn't want to think that she could ever get that far only to then get back to square one just because of one single, stupid misstep. 

She was still lost in her thoughts by the time the Council room's door reopened. Alec had decided to organize a new meeting, not deterred by the immense failure the last ones had proven to be. After the stunts the Seelies had pulled, she didn't expect it to be any easier for anyone involved, but once Alec put his sight on something, there was no way to stop the guy.

Meliorn was the first one out of the door, with his head held high and a slight swagger in his step. He walked straight to her, and Isabelle couldn't keep her smile at bay, despite everything.

"Isabelle. It’s good to see you again."

"Thanks, Meliorn. I'm glad to see you're still in one piece."

"I plan on being the last one standing."

"Is that the new Seelie's motto?" She asked, battling her eyelashes.

Meliorn laughed softly, recognizing the good-natured jab for what it was. Behind him, she could see how the rest of the Downworld leaders left the room, and her eyes fixated on Raphael, who was wearing an eye-catching tight, dark blue shirt under his suit that day. 

"Well, I better leave while I can," Meliorn said, "before he tries to bit my head off again. Metaphorically speaking, of course."

"You'd have to admit it wouldn't be totally without reason."

"The decision was made by the Queen, not by me;" he reminded her, with a pointed smile, "but I think it's interesting how personal he's taking it with me, of all the Seelies involved, don't you think so?"

After that cryptic comment (she couldn't believe she'd somehow missed those, she thought as she shook her head), he gave her his goodbyes and circled her to leave.

Raphael approached her, taking a second to glare for the last time at the back of Meliorn's head, before focusing his eyes on her.

"Hi, I'm making a poll. Would you please tell me, from one to ten, how awkward you would say that meeting was?"

"I’d say it was at least a twelve."

His deadpan tone was somewhat undermined by the affectionate smile he directed her. Next to the door, she could see how her brother was trying (and failing) to stealthily keep an eye on them, while Magnus talked to him.

"Hey listen. I was planning to go to the Jade Wolf. Would you want to come with me? It got dark since you arrived," she said, pointing at the windows, "so we could walk there."

He agreed after pondering it for a few seconds, so she told him to wait for her at the door while she went to grab her coat.

They started walking, making absurd small talk about the weather that gave her the perfect excuse to intertwine their arms. His jacket felt warm and smooth to the touch.

The conversation stalled at some point, and she started thinking of something she could say to remedy it. He seemed comfortable enough with their silence, but for some reason, she found the idea of not being able to talk to him unbearable in that moment. Like a confirmation that their connection wasn’t deeper than what everybody else already thought.

"You grew up here, right? During the forties?"

"Yes, I did. After we moved from Mexico."

"How is it different now?"

"How isn't?" He scoffed, letting his eyes wander around the street. "This neighborhood was poorer. Thought mine was even more so."

"What other family did you have? Besides Rosa."

"I had two other sisters; they both passed away a few years ago. I was the eldest." He paused, wistful. "We lived with our mother."

For a moment, it seemed like he wanted to say something else, but he closed his mouth and remained quiet. She told herself she shouldn't push further. Raphael liked to open up at his own pace, but so far, he always did it with her.

"Remember what you said the last time we saw each other?" She asked, trying to change topics.

"Which part?"

"Well, I personally liked the _incredibly_  swoon-worthy line about being 'at the brink of war'," she teased him, feeling a massive smile expand on her face -she had replayed that moment on her brain countless times-, "but I meant the part where you agreed with me about our connection been deeper than just the addiction."

"The addiction is still a big part."

"But it’s not everything. And I still maintain what I said. I want to try. To explore what _this_ means."

They walked in silence for a few moments, Isabelle looking at him with expectancy. She tried to will her heart to beat slower, knowing he could hear it. 

"We'd have to be careful," he finally said, "set some ground rules. We can't do anything that could risk a relapse. The minute either of us feels to close to one, it stops."

Trying to start a relationship already risked a relapse, though, according to everything she'd heard from AA meetings. But she knew he'd agreed because he wanted it too.

"Okay. So, no sneaking out in dark alleys behind people's backs" She started, trying to rein in her joy.

"And we can't be alone at my apartment. Too much happened there."

Raphael had told her about his sister there. He had confessed his feelings for her, came out to her, cooked with her there. In a way, she loved that place. But it was also where they got high on each other, multiple times. And he was right, that would be the biggest risk to their recovery.

"Deal." She agreed, as they were just a few steps away from the restaurant.

The intense look he was giving her made her want, as they say, to seal it with a kiss. But the last time she tried that, he had stopped her. It had been to say that he wasn't interested in sex, and not necessarily in any other physical contact, but still; it was something they'd had to talk about.

"Come on." He whispered, opening the door for her.

They walked towards the bar, and she hesitated for a second when she saw he only ordered a drink. But it was true she was planning on coming anywhere, and she was hungry, so she ordered some egg rolls. He wouldn't have come with her (or cooked for her, for that matter) if it really bothered him to be around other people eating.

Simon and Maia were seated at a nearby table, so she waved at them. Maia responded with a nod in her direction, and Simon wiggled his eyebrows pointing at Raphael with his head, until he fixed him with a caustic stare.

"Do you still hate the guy just because he can walk in the sunlight?" She teased, once they'd chosen a table.

"He could share," he responded, and added with a forced smile, "and so could you."

"I honestly have no idea of what it is," she lied, maintaining eye contact, "and I think he's probably just as clueless."

"No one is as clueless as _he_ seems."

Isabelle rolled her eyes, and started eating an egg roll to avoid the conversation. One thing she hadn't given much thought to when she'd decided to follow her mother's advice, was how a relationship with the leader of the vampire Clan would come with a lot of secrets that both parts would need to keep from the other at all costs. It wasn't going to be easy.

She remembered what that man had said earlier, about relapsing feeling easy, familiar. He hadn't said it in so many words, but Isabelle had heard them all the same: it felt like going home.

Good things aren't easy.

“And you’re pissed at the Seelies too. That’s a lot of grudges to hold.”

He smiled, shrugging his shoulders.

“I’m not pissed at the Seelies. They put themselves first, but it’s not like anyone expected anything different from them. I’ll admit I _am_ mystified at the fact that they decided to put their trust in _Valentine’s_ word, of all people.”

“But you _are_ angry with Meliorn.”

“I had begun to foolishly think I could trust Meliorn. It was a mistake, obviously.”

Meliorn had been right, then. It was personal. But she couldn’t really understand it.

“You talked to him like, maybe twice. And the first one was basically a pissing contest.” Raphael made a face at that, as if the comparison deeply offended him. “When did you have the time to start trusting him?”

Raphael took a sip of his drink, obviously stalling. Then, he raised his eyes at her, full of meaning.

“I guess there are some people with whom you don’t need more than a few phrases to make up your mind. Instincts take over and logic goes out of the window. Again, my mistake, in Meliorn’s case.”

Isabelle didn’t try to exculpate Meliorn, to say that the Queen had been the one who sold the rest of the Downworld out and not him. She could understand how some reactions didn’t come from a rational place, nor they needed it to be explained as if they had.

* * *

"I think there's something going on with the Seelies," Alec told her the next day, as he blocked a hit from her staff, "something besides  _everything_  they've been doing lately, I mean."

"Like what?"

Alec managed to hit her in the stomach, so she backed away to avoid any more damage.

"I don't know. But Meliorn was off yesterday. _And talking about yesterday_."

Of course. She went to hit his head, knowing he'd stop the blow.

"You and Raphael, huh?"

"We went to the Jade Wolf," she clarified, "no addictive substances were exchanged, I promise."

"Even if that's the case. With your history, do you think hooking up it's a good idea?"

"Okay, first: we aren't hooking up." Alec raised his eyebrows, looking skeptic. 

When she'd told Raphael she didn't mind entering a relationship with no sex, she'd meant it, but it wasn't something she'd stopped to ponder before going straight to him after her mother's heartfelt speech. It was something she probably should've given more thought, but she still felt the same way. She was perfectly capable to achieve orgasms by herself, thank you very much. Besides that, her relationship with Raphel was already more intimate than any other she'd had before. And even if that was partly worrying, given the circumstances, it was infinitely wonderful too. 

"We are taking it slow;" she added, not wanting to explain any of that further, "we know it's a risk, and we're both willing to take it."

As she said that, she literally swept Alec off his feet, making him fall back first against the mat, and she pressed her staff against his chest.

"And before you start meddling in _our_ business, maybe you should think about apologizing to him."

Alec's eyebrows raised impossibly higher.

"And why would I do that?"

"You know why." They stared at each other, intently. "Or at least promise to be nice."

"I will try." As he said that, he patted the mat, tapping out. She finally raised her staff, and helped him to stand up.

"I guess that's the best I'm gonna get from your overprotective ass, so I'll take it."

 * * *

"Izzy, I need to talk to you."

"Sure."

She and Alec walked towards his office. She'd just finished bottoming up her jacket; she had plans to go with Jace, Clary, Simon and Maia to the Hunter's Moon. She had been pondering whether or not she should call Raphael, so she'd have someone to talk with once she'd get tired of the unintentional drama of that love quartet. She was sure he'd get along with Maia, but his opinions on the other three were probably less than charitable. Besides, he didn't seem the type to enjoy a double date of any kind. Or any group activity at all.

Alec looked worried, and Isabelle started to feel uneasy. Once they arrived, he closed the door and turned to her, showing her an envelope.

"Dad just sent this. Apparently, Camille Belcourt escaped from Idris. No one knows how she did it, but she's not in the city anymore."

"How's that even possible?"

"They think she had outside help. They suspect a Downworlder did it."

Of course they did.

"I need to warn Raphael."

Camille hadn't exactly danced with joy when Raphael had usurped her position in the Clan, and Isabelle didn't want to think of what she could do if she decided to reclaim it. 

"There's something else, Izzy." Alec had softened his voice, as he always did whenever he knew she was going to react badly to what he had to say. "The Clave is going to send an envoy to help with the situation. The person who'd been in charge of her operation to begin with."

Isabelle immediately stopped thinking about Camille. He couldn't mean...

"Aldertree is coming back. He's arriving tonight via Portal, in fact." 

"So they just send the guy who fucked it all up in the first place? It doesn't matter"-She tried to push that information to the back of her mind for a moment-"I still need to see Raphael. And I can't be here when Aldertree arrives. " She needed to talk to Raphael face to face. "Tell Clary and Jace I can't go with them tonight, please."

"Of course. Go."

 * * * 

_To Raphael:_

_Heads-up: I'm coming to your place._ _It's an emergency._

 * * * 

"I thought we agreed meeting here was a bad idea."

"Yeah, I know, I know." As soon as she saw Raphael's face, she realized that her text could've been taken in the worst way possible. "But I needed to tell you something, and I didn't want to do it on the phone. Are you sure no one can hear us?"

He tilted his head towards the door.

"No, we're clear."

"We just got a message from our father." She didn't know how best to say it, so she just blurted it out. "Camille has escaped from Idris."

He seemed to take it better than she did, at least on the outside. His face was kept carefully blank, and he sat down on his couch, pensive. 

She sat by his side, maintaining a careful distance. Being here affected her more than she cared to admit. She hadn't really thought it through. Or maybe, deep down, a part of her was just coming back to what she knew, like that man had said.

But she had felt that she needed to tell the bad news to Raphael looking at him. To hear what he had to say, to try and help in whatever he decided to do next about the information.

"Do you think she'll come back to New York?"

"Without a doubt. Here is where the action is, after all." 

He said that with a lost look in his eyes, sounding like he was paraphrasing someone. Probably Camille herself. 

"I need to be careful. Some of the Clan will want to side with her." His lips transformed into a bittersweet smile. "Sometimes I think she might have dealt with this situation better than I have."

Isabelle finally closed the distance between them, laying a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"That couldn't be further away from the truth, and your Clan knows it."

"Camille is old, and powerful and conniving. She is selfish and vindictive, but she put the vampires before everyone else, second just after herself. And she didn't live her life by the Clave's impositions. A lot of people liked that. Sometimes  _I_  liked that."  

The conversation was taking a turn she wasn't sure she felt comfortable with, and there was still the  _other_  thing, the one that was eating at her brain since Alec spoke his name. 

"There's more. The Clave has sent Aldertree to retrieve her."

That seemed to get Raphael out of his own head, who looked at her with worry. They both had a rocky history with him, after all.

"Will you be alright?"

"I don't know." She answered, candidly. "I don't even know how I'm supposed to feel about it, except that I don't wanna see him. Let alone live under the same roof as him again."

Raphael held her hands between his, raising them to his mouth to kiss them. She felt herself and her worries melt at the contact.

"We'll figure it out."

By the Angel, how great that 'we' sounded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy new year, and I hope you guys enjoyed this!

**Author's Note:**

> Come find me on [tumblr](https://laufire.tumblr.com).


End file.
